It seemed like it would never come, and now it seems so long ago. Our Vacation! It's a bit of a blur at the moment because, of course, after being home all summer, my office decided to send me on two work trips; one before and one after vacation. It's taken us awhile to recover from all the travel, laundry, and packing! But we are back in the game!

This vacation my primarily my mother's birthday present. On her birthday in March we told her we would take her on a vacation anywhere within the continental U.S. After much looking, debating, asking opinions, she settled on a Bus trip through the west! We flew out to Rapid City, South Dakota on the 12th of September and returned home from Salt Lake City, Utah on the 19th. It was fabulous!


While in Rapid City we visited Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. Both were breathtaking, and each site had various museums and shops that were just as interesting as the monuments themselves. For example, did you know there really is a secret chamber behind Lincoln's head. Yup! It's true!


On our way to Billings, Montana we stopped at Last Stand hill where we got to the see the Native American monument that was finally built in 2003 and the Yuca plants had me intrigued.


There was also that turn we took in Montana where the storage doors on the bus opened and luggage went flying. :) Thankfully, nothing was lost or damaged!


We also stopped at the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody before heading into Yellowstone! Tom, My Mom, and I all loved catching glimpses of the buffalo, watching the various thermal features (aka. Geysers), and just taking in the natural wonders around us.


This was Tom's Favorite place in all of Yellowstone! The Yellowstone Canyon!





We definitely enjoyed Old Faithful. The picture on the right is it going off at night.


However, one of the more amusing portions of Yellowstone was when we stopped for lunch at Mammoth Springs. The Elk like to visit the little town in the park for two reasons: 1) no predators and 2) the manicured lawns. And apparently the head ranger's doorstep makes for a great napping too :)


After two days in Yellowstone we headed out into Grand Teton National Park where we were all mesmerized by the mountains on our River Float Trip. However the funniest part of the float trip was watching a little terrier and a river otter have a barking match at each other.


Our night we spent in Jackson Hole we went to a Chuck Wagon dinner complete with aluminum plates, singing cowboys, and some great grub! From there we were on to Salt Lake City for a last relaxing night before flying home.

All the people that were on the bus trip with us (48 in all) were very nice. We all enjoyed it immensely, my mom especially. However, we didn't find that $100 bill that Grandpa Bacon said he was going to leave us under a rock at Old Faithful :)

If you'd like to see all the pictures and video we took just click here.


And one last picture show! My cousin Conner turned 1 in July and his mom asked me to make his cakes! I was so proud of these clowns!


Sorry this was so picture heavy, but I hope you liked 'em.

Latest cake deliveries:


This cake and cupcakse were for a patriotic themed wedding shower. There was nothing left by the end of the party. Lots of seconds where had :)







These a coworker ordered for her wedding anniversary: